| | Office of the POLAD Coordinator
POLAD Program
The Office of the POLAD Coordinator manages the community of Political Advisors (POLADs) to the U.S. military service chiefs in the Pentagon and principal U.S. military commanders in the United States and overseas. The POLADs are senior State Department officers (flag-rank equivalent) detailed as personal advisors to leading U.S. military leaders/commanders to provide expert policy support regarding the diplomatic and political aspects of their military responsibilities. There are currently 18 POLADs assigned to U.S./NATO military organizations. The POLAD Coordinator's Office also manages State's participation in the State-DOD Officer Exchange Program (PM/SDE) which has operated since 1960 to further cooperation between State and Defense. At present, 11 State officers (0-6 equivalent) are serving in the Pentagon in the Office of the Secretary of Defense and on the Joint Staff under this program.
Further information on the POLAD program is available on the classified SiprNet network for those with access.
POLAD Coordinator
The Political Advisor Coordinator's Office is part of the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs' (PM) front office and reports to the Assistant Secretary. It is responsible for managing the POLAD program and State's participation in the State-Defense Officer Exchange Program, both designed to strengthen State-DOD cooperation. The Coordinator's Office also organizes the annual POLAD Conference which is held simultaneously with the CJCS semi-annual CINC Conference at National Defense University, Ft. Lesley J. McNair, Washington, D.C., usually in January or February. In addition, the POLAD Coordinator's Office coordinates training programs with State officers at the National Defense University and the military war colleges and senior training institutions and the National Foreign Affairs Training Center. | |
